Who's The Puppy Now?
by Naella
Summary: He never believed in karma until it hit him full in the face. SasuSaku


Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto ;;

She was different now. Haruno Sakura had definitely changed, and he had to say, he didn't like the change one bit.

Why?

It wasn't because of the fact that she had abruptly stopped tailing him like a loyal puppy a week ago; he had waited for that moment to happen since god knows when.

It also wasn't because she had stopped staring all starry-eyed at him and practically didn't look at him anymore; heck, he should be celebrating for that reason alone.

And it definitely wasn't because he could clearly see that she was warming up to the overly enthusiastic blonde dimwit that was their teammate; they could run off together to the other side of the world and he wouldn't give a damn.

And of course it wasn't because of the fact that she hadn't uttered a single word to him all week; didn't he always tell her how annoying he found her to be? Now she had stopped pestering him, and he was happy.

Right?

There was absolutely no reason for him to dislike the change. Didn't he always wait for this moment to happen? For Sakura to stop following him everywhere, to stop staring at him like some star-struck kid, to stop talking to him, and to shower all her attention on Naruto instead of him?

He scowled, causing the spotted puppy that had been staring at him for the past hour running in the opposite direction, tail between its legs.

----

He was walking home after a tiring session of sparring, rubbing the back of his neck as he went. He knew that under normal circumstances, she wouldn't hit him, but what happened a little while ago wasn't normal at all. He was about to hit her, but her emerald green eyes had transfixed him, and instead of the one hitting, he was the one who was hit.

Also, under normal circumstances, she would have rushed to his side and ask him in a worried voice, "Are you okay, Sasuke-kun?" or say, "I'm so sorry, Sasuke-kun!"

But did she do that? No—after they had sparred, she went off to get ramen with Naruto at Ichiraku. What was even worse, it was the dobe who asked him if he wanted to go with them, and not her. He had declined the offer as she didn't look too happy with Naruto's proposition, and he consoled himself with the thought that he didn't want to see them feed each other ramen in some sickly wrong way anyway.

He suddenly heard shuffling behind him. Turning around, he called her name out on a whim.

"Sakura?"

"Arf!"

He felt a vein twitch in his temple as he saw the spotted dog from yesterday, tail wagging and tongue lolling. He lowered himself until he was on eye level with the puppy, which looked strangely like someone he knew.

"You've got three seconds to start running."

-----

The next day was just as bad as the previous one.

He had arrived at the training grounds earlier than what was usual for him, and saw her already there, much to his dismay. He seriously considered turning around and taking a jog around town until he was certain that dobe and their punctually challenged sensei arrived, but his body stayed rooted to the spot and he couldn't help but admire her from afar. Her silky pink locks swayed gently to the morning breeze as she kicked and punched at the air. Her emerald green eyes had a look of determination in them that he hadn't really seen before. Beads of sweat ran down her porcelain-smooth skin, and he vaguely wondered if it was as soft as it looked. At that moment he was certain that she was the most beautiful girl that he had ever laid his eyes on.

He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't even notice the presence of two snickering spectators.

"You're right, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said amidst hearty laughter. "He does have it bad."

"Aa. It's been quite enjoyable, but I think it's about time we snapped him out of his reverie and start training."

His eyes now rested on her luscious lips and images of him pressing his lips against hers flashed through his mind. This didn't really do much for his sanity. The images continued to flash through his mind, each one more intense than the last. Up until now, he never thought he was capable of such perverted thoughts. He then wondered if these were the kind of thoughts that ran through Kakashi's mind.

"I think you've had your fill for today, Sasuke-kun," an amused voice somehow managed to drift into his ear. He stiffened. "Are you still up for training? You look like you've downed an entire bottle of sake by yourself."

He stiffened even more when he heard a snicker.

"You were practically drooling, teme," Naruto said, snorting. "You should've seen yourself—you were all starry-eyed."

This was karma, he was damn sure of it.

-----

The day never seemed to end. To him, it was pure torture to try and hit the proper target with the dobe and Kakashi tormenting him every single chance they got. His only consolation was that Sakura seemed oblivious to what the teasing was all about.

When it was time to sit down for lunch, he just didn't find himself very enthusiastic about the break, and one can only guess why. He tried his best to look somewhere else when Sakura was unwrapping the bentos she brought for all of them, but he couldn't help but steal a glance at her as she went about it. His one moment of contentment was paid for dearly as Kakashi and Naruto threw him knowing looks from behind Sakura.

A moment later…

He scowled. He should have known that they had plotted something. Even though he knew this was part of their plan, he couldn't help but feel the urge to strangle someone. In front of him was a Naruto who was complaining about how his arm hurt from the fall he had taken a while ago while they were sparring and an obliging Sakura told him patiently that she would help feed him. His eye twitched when he saw her take a puppy-shaped onigiri from the bento. It wasn't that he had anything against dogs; they just reminded him that he lost _his_ loyal puppy.

He glared at Naruto as he opened his mouth wide. Sakura brought the onigiri up to his mouth, and the blonde was about to happily bite into it when something utterly foul and disgusting was stuffed into his mouth.

He felt quite satisfied when Naruto coughed and spat out the tomato he had stuffed into the dobe's mouth. He was well-aware of his ludicrous behavior, but he savored the satisfaction of seeing the look on his face.

"What the hell did you do that for, teme?"

"Tomatoes are good for you."

The satisfied smirk was wiped away from his face, however, when he saw the grin on the dobe's face and Kakashi's crinkled eyes told him he had done exactly what they had wanted him to do.

-----

He sat beside her stiffly, the silence getting to him by the minute. They had sat there for more than twenty minutes, and they didn't even say a single word to each other. Once again, the dobe and Kakashi had outsmarted him. He arrived later than usual to make sure what happened the day before didn't happen again, but to no avail; now he was seated on the ground about a foot away from Sakura, the tension between them thick enough to be cut through with a knife. When he had sat beside her a while ago and he realized that she wasn't going to talk to him anytime soon, he had thought that two could play at this game. But now his patience was wearing thin, and any minute now, he would probably blow…

And blow he did when a certain spotted dog sat beside him.

"Sakura."

It was said in more of a growl.

"…"

"Sakura, listen to me," he sighed. He swallowed all of his pride and asked her the question whose answer he had been dying to obtain. "Why have you changed?"

At least that seemed to get her attention. She whipped her head and faced him for the first time in a whole week, green eyes wide.

"Changed? In what way?"

She finally spoke. For a minute back there, he thought she had lost her voice. He gulped slightly.

"Well, you haven't been following me around anymore, for starters," he said, his voice barely audible. He could feel a blush creep up into his cheeks as she stared at him with eyebrows raised. "And you haven't been staring at me as much as you used to."

He nearly choked. He couldn't believe he had said that last sentence out loud.

"I thought you found that annoying," she said matter-of-factly, but an amused look started to dawn on her face. "Is there anything else?"

She actually seemed to be enjoying this.

"You've been spending a lot of time with the dobe."

There was a bit of venom in his voice, and the pink-haired kunoichi didn't miss it.

"Are you jealous?" she asked incredulously, her eyes wide. "Sasuke-kun, are you sure you're feeling okay?"

"I'm not jealous," he said childishly, turning redder. "And I feel fine."

A moment of silence passed between them, and he looked away as she surveyed his face. Then she spoke in the voice that had always made his heart flutter. He mentally slapped himself. What was wrong with him? Maybe she was right, and he wasn't feeling well.

"I never thought Sasuke-kun would actually notice," she said softly, looking up at the clouds. "I thought you would be happier if I stopped trying so hard to get you to notice me."

"Did you actually think it was possible for me not to notice when you stopped talking to me so abruptly?"

"Well, I guess not, but I never thought you'd care," she said, looking away. "After all, you always say that I'm annoying."

"Sorry," he mumbled. She stared at him.

"What did you say again?"

"Don't make me say it again."

His embarrassment was rewarded when she wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him into a tight embrace.

"Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn."

"Do you love me?"

She smiled as she closed her eyes. She didn't mind his lack of words—his actions told her everything she needed to know.

------

Poof.

He was immediately greeted by the grinning face of his blue-eyed student.

"You did great, Kaka-sensei," Naruto whispered, giving him a thumbs-up. "Look at them go at it."

"Ahh," he smiled underneath his mask, watching his two students making out under the tree, oblivious to their presence. So it was all worth masquerading as a puppy for this. "I think it's about time we take our leave, ne, Naruto?"

"Only if I get an eat-all-you-can ramen spree at Ichiraku!"

"Hai, hai."

Yay! I finally finished a story! Please leave a review if you can, I'd be really grateful:D


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